


The Art of Valediction, or How to Impress Your Girlfriend Without Using a Backspace Key

by IntelligentAirhead



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 21:50:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13086072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntelligentAirhead/pseuds/IntelligentAirhead
Summary: Long distance relationships are hard, but communication can soothe the ache.





	The Art of Valediction, or How to Impress Your Girlfriend Without Using a Backspace Key

**Author's Note:**

  * For [obstinateRixatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/obstinateRixatrix/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STELLA!!! Here are some Girls in Love

Phone calls are weird. They just are. 

Now, texts, those can be sent off without a thought, and Ann only ever regrets decatexting on the third day of radio silence. Most of the time, though, it’s smooth sailing. 

Phone calls, on the other hand? Those are tricky. Every second between the next ring is enough time for Ann to gather her thoughts into a nice little voicemail script she’ll toss straight out the window the second the line actually connects.

Greetings are probably the worst part. With texts, Ann can just send off a picture of a cat she saw, or a really bad bootleg featherman figure, and Shiho will respond, or send something else in response. It’s a continuation, like the conversation never ended. 

With phone calls, though, greetings are mandatory, and Ann is  _ pretty _ sure she hates it. Like, everything about it. Figuring out what’s appropriate to the situation is hard, backtracking in case of some flubbed pronunciation is worse, and worst of all is the way it feels. Having to say hello makes it feel like there has to be a goodbye. 

“You’re so melodramatic sometimes.”

Ann makes a noise way too close to a squawk, and Shiho’s laugh rings across the line. It always sounds like Shiho’s trying really hard to pull in enough air to breath, all staccato inhales coming out as high pitched chirps. 

“You’re really cute,” Ann observes. It’s just a fact. The sky is blue. Leaves change color with the seasons. Shiho is cute.  

“Oh my god.” Shiho groans. “Just turn it around on me, you tactical genius. You did it. You’re the anime villain you always wanted to be. I’m bright red, and now I can’t make fun of you, and it’s your fault.”

“Mission accomplished!” Ann catches herself throwing a peace sign at the empty room and pulls it up to her mouth in embarrassment. Sometimes living alone is its own reward. 

“You’re something else,” Shiho says, and it sounds so indulgent that Ann has to beam. 

“I try my best.”

Everything’s quiet for a moment, the topic winding down to a standstill like a music box running out of steam, and the companionable silence is… nice. It’s almost like Shiho’s in the room again, stealing Ann’s snacks and playing with her phone. Except there’s a tinny pitch to Shiho’s breathing, and Shiho isn’t a comforting weight leaning against her back, but whatever! It’s still a nice moment! 

It’s just different, is all.

“I miss you,” Ann says. 

“I know you do.” Factual, gentle, and very, very Shiho. 

Ann makes a face. “You’re supposed to say you miss me too, you know,” she says. 

“That’s a given,” Shiho says, reasonable. “Of course I miss you. I love you.”

Well. That. Yes. That is certainly a thing. A thing Shiho just said. Straight out. No hesitation. Yep! Just a normal thing people tell their girlfriends! That shouldn’t be turning Ann red because they’ve gone over this before! This is nothing new! They love each other! Ann loves Shiho! And Shiho—

“You love me,” Ann repeats. 

“Yeah.” There’s the hiccough-laugh again, and Ann can just  _ hear _ the way Shiho’s shaking her head. “Yeah, I do.”

“I love you, too!” Ann says, then, impulsively, “To Hokkaido and back.” 

“Do not send my love to a bunch of random cows in a snowdrift,” Shiho commands. “Although, they could probably use it,” she adds, as an afterthought. 

“ _ Shiho _ ,” Ann whines, dragging out her name. “You know what I mean.” 

“I know,” Shiho says, a smile in her voice. “But think about it: who else is going to tease famous model, Takamaki Ann, if I don’t?” 

“I’ve been in, like, four magazines recently.” Ann flops back into the nearest chair. “If you know a famous model named Ann, I’m filing for identity theft.”

“Not a chance,” Shiho says, and oh, no, that’s her stern voice. “Not when I’m filing first. Because that sure doesn’t sound like my Ann.”

Ann crosses her arms, sinking further into her chair. Hopefully, it will swallow her. “And what does  _ your _ Ann sound like?” 

“Hmm, well…” The hard shell of Shiho’s voice falls into something playful in an instant. “How about, ‘I’m going to become a real model, so you can keep seeing me’?”

“I— That’s—” Trust Shiho to play to win. “Well, I meant it!” Ann says, face flushing. “I always want you to see me at my best. Or, even when I’m not at my best! I just… want you to see me doing better. And it kinda totally sucks that I’m not living up to that.”

“Ann,” Shiho says, then sighs. “I do want to see you doing your best. Which is why I get upset when you’re talking bad about yourself. It feels like you’re giving up on yourself.” Shiho lets out a breath. “Besides,” she tacks on, her voice lighter, “that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about. I’ll have to fight you if you say anything mean about her.”

There really is no beating Shiho, huh? “Alright.” Ann puffs out her cheeks, letting the air whistle out, then sits up straight. “You’re right. No more lying around and feeling sorry for myself! After I hang up, I’ll call my agent. Never give up! Never surrender!” 

“That’s my girl.” Shiho laughs, but it’s a milder, slower sound. “I really do miss you, you know. I can picture you posing in your apartment, and seeing you in magazines is nice, but… I do miss seeing you.”

“You called me melodramatic,” Ann accuses, even as she feels her cheeks heating.

“You were waxing poetic about how phone calls forced you to actually start conversations.”

“Hey, I’m one of the least dramatic people I know,” Ann defends. “I didn’t write, like, an actual haiku.”

“You don’t have to throw Kitagawa-kun under the bus like that,” Shiho chides. She hums, soft and thoughtful. Like her. 

“I was saving this for the right moment,” she sounds out. “But… I might be able to visit over golden week.” 

“No way!” Ann shoots out of her seat. “That would be...!” Fantastic, incredible, a crepe after school, an oasis shimmering on the horizon, a Shiho in Tokyo, any number of improbably lucky breaks, but what comes out instead is the unvarnished truth:  “Shiho! I love you!”

“I love you too,” Shiho says, then starts laughing. “You’re so excited.”

“Of course I am! My— Shiho!” Ann freezes. “Oh my god, I have to clean the apartment.”

“Golden week isn’t for another— Oh. Oh, Ann. How bad is it.”

Ann winces. By Shiho’s tone, she knows exactly how bad it is. “It’s… manageable? It’ll be clean by the time you’re here.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Shiho says. “And when I show up I’ll pretend that I believe you when you say you didn’t hire a cleaning service.”

“Hey!”

“It’s okay.” Shiho’s voice is light. “If I know you, you’ll be too busy to have time to clean soon enough. Your passion is—” Her voice cracks, and she clears her throat. “You throw yourself into things, Ann, and you shine when you do it.”

Ann brings up a hand to cover her face, then realizes that would muffle what she needs to say. “You know that you’re the reason, right? You make me better. I’d be lost without— You’re my light.”

“And you’re mine.” Shiho’s voice is hushed. “You’re my light, too.”

Quiet settles in for a long moment, stretching like a cat on a bed, before Ann shakes herself out of its warmth. “Alright.”

“Alright?” Shiho prods.

Ann takes in a steadying breath. “I need to call my agent while I’m still fired up, or I’m definitely gonna forget.”

“Good luck,” Shiho says. “Tell me how things go.”

“Of course! Talk to you later,” Ann says, and maybe the problem  _ isn’t  _ with goodbyes. Maybe it’s the way they’re said—  that one didn’t sound like a parting at all. 

**Author's Note:**

> the trick is that shiho and ann love each other and are always trying their best so they're always impressing each other. god they're in love. i'm alive


End file.
